Mileage-book



(No Model.)

W. BOLL. MILEAGE BOOK.

No} 514,538; Patented Feb. 13, 1 894.

. WITNESSES: INVENTOI? A 7'TOHNEYS.

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UNITED STATES PATENT @rnrcn.

lVlLLlAM BOLL, OF RED OAK, IOXVA.

MILEAGE-BOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 514,538, dated February 13, 1894.

Application llledMnrch 18,1893.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM 130m, of Red Oak,in the county of Montgomery and State of Iowa, have invented a new and Improved Mileage-Book, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in mileage books, or other similar books, carrying coupons or strips representing value. Such books have many inconveniences, the two chief ones being that it takes some time for a conductor to tear off a strip of coupons in the right place and his time is usually valuable, and the other is that the conductor is quite likely to make a mistake and tear off too many coupons, in which case the passenger suffers.

The object of my invention is to produce an extremely handy and simple book of the class described, which has all the advantages of the customary mileage book and which has the further advantage that it may be used with a gage and a strip of a certain length torn off, the length of the strip representing a certain value so that the strip may be readily torn and a mistake is not likely to be made.

To these ends my invention relates to certain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a broken plan View of an open book embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line 2--2 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a detail perspective View of the plate which is attached to one of the covers and serves as a keeper and straight edge.

The book is provided with the usual covers 10 hinged together, as shown at 11, and these may be of any customary kind. On the inn er side of one of the covers is pasted a leaf 12, long enough to reach to the outer edge of the keeper plate, as described below, and to the free end of this leaf is pasted the mileage strip 13 which is divided off into mile spaces, as shown clearly in Fig. 1, the lines being equal distances apart, and the numbers of the miles being produced at the ends of the lines Serial No, 466.660. (N0 model.)

in the usual way, the numbers reading in opposite directions. The mileage strip is adapted to be folded up between the covers, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, and to hold it snugly in place a rubber band 13 may be snapped around the folds of the strip and around one of the covers, as shown in the drawings. The mileage strip 13 extends outward on the inner side of one of the covers and may be pulled out beyond the end of the cover, this strip passing beneath a keeper plate 14, the outer edge of which serves as a straight edge which enables the strip 13 to be easily torn off. The keeper plate 14: has end lugs 15 which are doubled over the edge of one of the covers 10, so that the plate may lie fiatwise on the inside of the cover, and as the plate is of sheet metal, the lugs may be easily folded to place. Theinner edge of the keeper plate is cut, as shown at 16, and turned up to form a guard flange 17 against which one of the covers 10 may close, and this flange prevents the coverfrom folding down too tightly upon the gage strip and reel, as will be understood from the following description.

On opposite side edges of the plate l t are ears 18 which are bent to extend at right angles to the cover, and in these ears is pivoted a revoluble reel 19 which extends parallel with the plate 14: and on which is fastened the gage strip 20 which may be rolled upon the reel and unrolled at will, and which is also adapted to be pulled out parallel with the mileage strip 13. The gage strip 20 is narrower than the mileage strip, although it may be made of the same width if desired, and the reel on which it iswound, is enlarged at one end, as shown at 21, thus forming a drum which may be rubbed with the fingers so as to turn the reel and wind the gage strip thereon.

The gage strip 20 is marked like the mileage strip, except that the numbers are produced near one edge only and the strip extends outward beneath a keeper plate 22 which lies parallel with the plate 14; and near the outer edge of thelatter, the plate 22 being upturned at one edge, as shown at 23, so as to enable the strip 20 to pass beneath it without excessive friction, and the ends of the plate 22 are doubled over around the edges of the cover 10, as shown at 24. The gage strip 20 may be made of anynecessary length, accgrding to the runs on the road where it is use When the book is used, the gage strip and mileage strip are pulled out together, the gage strip indicating the amount or length to be torn off and the mileage strip is then torn 01f at the outer edge of the keeper plate 14., but the gage strip is not torn off but is again wound up and may be used over and over until the mileage strip is exhausted. As the lines on the strip are equal distances apart it follows that a particular length of the strip w1ll represent a certain number of miles and therefore a certain value, so that by means of the gage strip any necessary length may be quickly determined, and this length may be torn 06 thus insuring rapidity of action and great accuracy.

This book, while being especially adapted for use as a mileage book as specified, may also be used for credit coupons such as merchants frequently sell to customers, each line on the strip representing one cent, or other arbitrary amount, and these being torn off in the manner indicated when a purchase is made.

It will be observed that when the gage strip is rolled up and the leaves shut together, the book is in a compact form and the guard 17 will prevent the covers from pressing against the roll formed by the gage strip on the reel, with sufficient friction to interfere with the free unwinding of the gage strip.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination, with the book covers, of a mileage strip held to one of the covers and adapted to be pulled freely from the cover, and a gage strip held to the cover adjacent to the mileage strip and adapted to be pulled out parallel with the mileage strip, the gage strip and mileage strip being both'marked in a similar manner, the mileage strip being adapted to be severed without severing the gage strip substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the book cover, of the mileage strip held thereon and adapted to be pulled outward from the cover, a keeper plate to bind the mileage strip to the cover, and the gage strip mounted on a reel adjacent to the mileage strip and adapted to be pulled outward with the mileage strip, the mileage strip being adapted to be severed without severi n g the gage strip substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the cover, of a mileage strip held thereon and adapted to be pulled outward from the cover, a keeper plate secured to the cover and serving as a guide for the mileage strip, a reel supported on the keeper plate, and a gage strip carried by the reel and adapted to move outward parallel with the mileage strip, the mileage strip being adapted to be severed without severing the gage strip substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the cover, of the keeper plate secured thereon and provided with out-turned ears, a numbered mileage strip secured to the cover and adapted to extend outward between the cover and keeper plate, a reel pivoted in the ears of,the keeper plate, and a numbered gage strip carried by the reel and adapted to extend outward parallel with the mileage strip, the mileage strip being adapted to be severed Without severing the gage strip substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the cover and the keeper plate secured thereon, of a numbered mileage strip secured to the cover and extending outward between the cover and keeper plate, a reel pivoted on the keeper plate, a numbered gage strip secured to the reel and adapted to extend parallel with the mileage strip, and a second keeper plate for the gage strip, the mileage strip being adapted to be severed without severing the gage strip substantially as described.

6. The combination, of the swinging covers, the'extensible mileage strip, the keeper plate for the mileage strip, the gage strip and reel mounted on the keeper plate, and the guard flange on the keeper plate, the mileage strip being adapted to be severed without severingthe gage strip substantially as described.

WILLIAM BOLL.

Witnesses:

OHAs. FORDYOE CLARK, E. G. 000K. 

